Syrian violence contributed to a sharp rise in
the number of journalists killed for their work in 2012, as did a series of
murders in Somalia. The dead include a record proportion of journalists who
worked online. A CPJ special report

New York, October
24, 2012--CPJ is alarmed by a Bahraini court's acquittal of a police officer
accused of torturing a journalist in custody in 2011.

A criminal
court in Manama on Monday acquitted police officer Sara al-Moussa on charges of
torturing Nazeeha Saeed, a reporter for France24 and Radio Monte Carlo Doualiya,
while the journalist was in custody in May 2011, according to the official Bahrain
News Agency
(BNA). The agency reported that the court ruled that Saeed's testimony was full
of "contradictions" and not "consistent." Saeed told CPJ that she and her
lawyer are urging prosecutors to reopen the case.

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New York,
September 13, 2012--The Committee to Protect Journalists is concerned about the
ongoing imprisonment of Ahmed Radhi, a freelance journalist who was first detained
four months ago after making critical comments about Bahraini-Saudi relations.
Radhi now faces terrorism and other anti-state charges which he says were
lodged after he was abused and forced into making a false confession.

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New York, September 6, 2012--Bahraini
authorities should toss out the unjust conviction and life sentence handed to
an online journalist who was imprisoned for exercising his right to free expression
during the country's 2011 popular uprising, the Committee to Protect
Journalists said today.

The
17-year-old videographer Anas
al-Tarsha regularly filmed clashes and military movements in the city of
Homs in Syria, and posted the footage on YouTube. On February 24, he was killed by
a mortar round while filming the bombardment of the city's Qarabees district,
according to news reports. The central city had been under attack for more than
three weeks as Syrian forces stepped up their assault on opposition
strongholds.

This week, Morgan Marquis-Boire and Bill
Marczak of the University of
Toronto's Citizen Lab provided a disturbing
look into the likely use of a commercial surveillance program, FinFisher,
to remotely invade and control the computers of Bahraini activists. After the
software installs itself onto unsuspecting users' computer, it can record and
relay emails, screenshots, and Skype audio conversations. It was deployed
against Bahraini users after being concealed in seemingly innocent emails.

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New York, May 17, 2012--A journalist who criticized Bahrain's
proposed union with Saudi Arabia was seized from his home near Manama on
Wednesday and his whereabouts are unknown. The Committee to Protect Journalists
called today for his immediate release.

Reneging on a promise made just weeks earlier, Bahraini
authorities have denied visas to representatives of several free expression
organizations who planned to travel to the kingdom next week to assess press
and free speech conditions. CPJ is among
several organizations that have signed a joint
letter to Bahrain's director of human rights organizations condemning
the action.

New York, April
23, 2012--Bahraini
authorities, intent on suppressing coverage of the restive political conditions
that were a backdrop to the Formula One Grand Prix in Manama on Sunday,
arrested at least seven international journalists who were seeking to report on
anti-government demonstrations, according to news reports.

CPJ is among 50 organizations that have signed a joint letter to
Bahrain's king calling for the release of detained bloggers, activists,
and human rights defenders and to drop all charges that violate the right to
peaceful expression ahead of the Formula One motor racing event to be held in
Manama on April 22.